“I always know when he walks into a room,” Angel said.
Raleigh didn’t allow my clever subject change to distract him. “You’re leaving, aren’t you?”
I found myself nodding before I realized it. “I guess I am,” I said, throat tight. “I’m…”
“Scared?” Angel finished for me. “I don’t think you’ll find a parent out there who isn’t—regardless of how long they’ve been one.”
“I don’t know how to be a parent.”
“There’re a couple of people in Hannah’s life who do,” Raleigh offered. “They might even be willing to help you, if you ask them.”
My eyes cut to him. “You’re not suggesting?—”
“Call her. Nothing good will come of ignoring her.”
He was right, damn it. Long after they’d disappeared back upstairs, I paced the empty bar, tossing my phone back andforth between my hands. I wasn’t sure how much time passed before I dialed the number.
“Hello?”
Chapter 7
“Surprise!”
I flinched, snapping my head up from my phone to see Double Trouble standing in the middle of the bar along with the rest of the staff surrounded by… pink balloons. A sparkly banner along the back wall read, “It’s a Girl!” My eyes landed on Raleigh, who stood with a shit-eating grin on his face.
It had been a few weeks since I decided to move back to Salem, and Raleigh and Angel had been supportive while I figured everything out. It had taken a lot of time, patience, and money, but I finally secured a two-bedroom house and a promising job interview. I still wasn’t entirely sure I was making the right decision, but I couldn’t ignore the pull to return. To be there for my daughter.
“What the hell have you two done?” I asked, stomping over to the couple in question with a glare. Everyone else lined up at the bar where Jack was mixing drinks.
Angel answered with a shrug before stepping away. “Don’t look at me.”
I switched my gaze to Raleigh, who shrugged. “Going away parties are depressing. This seemed like more fun.”
“Except the baby’s already been had,” I said. “A long time ago.”
“I told Angel we should’ve found a sign that said, ‘Itwasa girl.’ This isn’t a baby shower, it’s a… bar shower? Here. I know you like presents.” Raleigh ducked under the table and pulled out a frilly pink basket overflowing with chocolate, pajamas, teen magazines, and?—
“Tampons?” I asked, picking up the box in the corner like it was going to bite me.
Raleigh held up a similar one. “Pads too. You never know.”
I rolled my eyes and tossed the box aside, then cocked a brow at him when I found the bottle of scotch hidden beneath everything.
Raleigh dropped his voice to a whisper. “That’s one of the bottles we bought the night we closed on this place. It was Angel’s idea—he wanted you to have it.”
“Wow, Raleigh. I don’t know what to say.”
He snorted. “Whatever you do, don’t start crying again. I’m not used to that.”
“Neither am I,” I said, forcing a laugh. I could feel warmth in my chest, but luckily it stayed away from my eyes. I never expected that leaving Vegas would be so hard. Despite all my best efforts to keep things casual, I’d come to think of it as home. “Thank you,” I said, investing the simple words with as much heart as I could muster.
Raleigh gave my shoulder a squeeze and steered me toward the bar. “Let’s drink.”
It was my last day working for The Devil’s Hopyard, where I’d planned to lose myself in a busy shift. Raleigh and Angel surprised me, though, closing the doors for the night and keeping the place to ourselves. Soft music played from thespeakers, less aggressive than the usual stuff we were subjected to. Raleigh put quite a few drinks away, but it was Angel who surprised me. He rarely drank, and I’d never seen him completely let loose. It wasn’t long before he was drunk, hanging off his husband like they were the only two in the room.
For a while, I sat back and watched. That tight feeling in my chest returned, but not the one that made me feel sick. The one that made me question everything I thought I knew about myself. I loved Raleigh, but I wasn’tinlove with him. Seeing him and Angel, the way they were made for each other, made me think that maybe Ididhave it in me to love someone like that.
Talking to Erin had been even more terrifying than speaking with Hannah. I’d been so distracted with my own nerves that I missed much of what she was saying. I’d asked her to repeat herself so often that I’d been convinced she’d tell me to forget it and hang up on me. It’d been a long, exhausting conversation, and by the end of it we only agreed on one thing: Hannah was our priority. Erin admitted that she’d never seen Hannah happier than when she came back from her trip to Vegas—even after finding out she was grounded.
